Chivalry
by xSilverKatanax
Summary: Chivalry. It was a code he stood by, a lie she never quite believed and a tie to their friendship.Oneshot[MinaKushiMinato x Kushina]


Chivalry

By: xSilverKatanax

**Summary:**

Chivalry. It was a code he stood by, a lie she never quite believed and a tie to their friendship. Oneshot [MinaKushi-Minato x Kushina

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Blah"-Normal talking

"_Blah"_-talking in flashback

_Blah_-Normal thinking

'_Blah'_-thinking in flashback

---

Sweat and frustration were painted across his face as his body once more, collapsed onto the ground.

With the dirt thick through his fingernails and his mangled blond locks attacking his vision, he panted heavily his body shaking with the simple task of getting up.

"Is that all you got, Minato?" A deep voice jeered in front of him, waves of mockery un-hidden beneath it.

At this, Minato grunted, his eyes narrowed in determination, demonstrating his nindou-his ninja way.

_Never to give up…_

"Are you really _that_ weak?"

_Arghh_

An outraged battle cry escaped from Minato, his knees bending, heart racing as he settled into a tired battle stance. Glaring at the man smirking in front of him, he inhaled deeply and charged.

The boy's opponent had untamed white hair-despite his young age, and two playful marks occupying his cheeks that moved with his expressions.

Jiraiya.

"Come, only if you're ready…" He warned, his own muscles tightening into a flawless battle stance of his own.

Taking in his taunts, Minato stopped abruptly in front of his wise opponent to form his hands into a dangerous fist, and attacked. As expected, the punch was easily dodged-much to the amusement of the boy's sensei who chuckled freely at his student's beaten form.

"Hn. You know better than to charge at me head-on, Minato. As a shinobi, you should know this, even if you are incredibly _weak._"

A grunt escaped from the boy.

With the great honor of recently moving to chuunin, he was frustrated with his sensei's antics. Lately, training had formed into a more rigorous practice. The constant beatings and the draining of chakra was already taking a toll on his body.

With a glance at his numerous cuts and bruises, he couldn't help wonder why his teammates had pestered him, longing to be in his place.

_Prodigy_

He always heard children and adults alike, whispering his accomplishments amongst themselves as they pointed at him on the streets of Konoha.

This cycle of citizens ogling at his progress and recording his abilities had become a custom for Minato-so much, that during his training, he often wondered if his sensei had forgotten his tremendous amount of potential.

'_You are a chuunin now…'_ Was the man's constant excuse. '_You must train even harder now that you are entrusted to B rank missions, saving lives and earning a name for this village.' _

Of course, this was always answered with a childish sigh and the motion of turning his back on his sensei, leaving himself to his thoughts.

Suddenly, Jiraiya counterattacked with a foreign move, his body fluidly perusing the child, who dodged with a high jump and a triumphant smirk.

"Good, Minato." Praise was shouted from across the training grounds where Minato stumbled with a landing stance. "Try it again ok? I aim to show you the correct counterattack if someone were to use that recent move."

"H-hai…" Minato replied obediently.

His voice was a monotone although; he was inwardly celebrating at his success. That move he had just executed was one he had been trying for weeks, his constant failure bringing praise far away from his ears.

"Hn." A new voice emerged suddenly, in an arrogant tone.

Minato and his sensei both turned from their training, to see a confident girl smirking in a knowing manner at Minato's crouching form.

From below, Minato looked up at her, confusion shown in his eyes.

Branded as a prodigy, he was used to the occasional glare sent his way, jealousy usually fueling the hatred of his betters and the other boys within his age group.

Girls however, would usually stare openly at his acceptable features-drawn by his well known power.

Nevertheless, _this_ girl…

With a scoff and an equal snort, Minato quickly stood up, his eyes glaring at the girl as he proceeded to examine her.

Her hair was a deep crimson. Its ends flared at her slim waste, seeming to flutter with each annoyingly smooth movement she made. Her eyes were dark velvet, peaking at him from under her glossy bangs, penetrating his stare with an intimidating glare of her own. With a smirk etched onto her face, her form glowered upon his with a look of authority…

"Hello, miss," Jiraiya, said smoothly, with an attempt to break the tension that had unexpectedly streamed between his student and this mystery girl.

"Hello…" The female replied immediately, her eyes still fixated on the young man who glared back. Tilting her head with interest not attempting any further introduction, she spoke.

"You're the one their talking about huh?" She asked, her voice coming out rough and demanding. "The great _Namikaze Minato," _Minato's eyes narrowed, staring at the oddity that had just arrived.

"If I may ask," Jiraiya began politely. "Who are you?"

Minato turned his glare towards his sensei knowledgeable, of how perverted he was. Just listening to the man's polite address-one that he used only towards young women, was a clear image of what his sensei was probably thinking.

"Uzumaki Kushina." The girl answered proudly, oblivious of these facts. "Former _valued_ konoichi of the Whirlpool country."

_Former? _Minato thought critically before the girl turned to him once more.

"You're Namikaze Minato, aren't you? I've heard you're quite strong…" She began, her eyes growing dull as she examined him. "…But you don't look so strong…"

_What?_

"I'll have you know, Uzumaki-san…" Jiraiya interrupted quickly before Minato could react. "…That some people find Minato quite strong." He announced.

Minato narrowed his eyes at his sensei. He did not need or, want the pervert sticking up for him.

"Perhaps." Kushina stated plainly before sliding into a foreign battle stance herself. "But we'll have to find out for ourselves, won't we?"

_What the hell…?_

"So, what do you say, Namikaze-san? Are you up for the challenge?"

Minato sighed.

Was he up for the challenge that this Kushina-girl had just given to him?

Would he accept her proposition?

"Hn," Minato grunted. "Are you sure?" He asked Kushina in a warning tone.

From the opposite of his position, Kushina's stance wavered with annoyance.

"Are you doubting me…?" She asked, obviously offended. "Or are you just scared? Are you scared that I'm going to embarrass you in front of your sensei?"

"Why do you even want to fight me anyway?"

At this, Kushina smiled sweetly towards his figure.

"Because you're here...and you're supposedly strong…"

"Hn."

"You disagree?" Kushina asked couriously.

Minato remained silent. Glancing at his sensei once more-who shrugged his shoulders in return, Minato realized that this was his choice. His decision.

_To fight her or not…_

Tensing his aching muscles, Minato analyzed the situation. He was already hurt from his interrupted training session, giving the redhead an advantage of actually beating him. His chakra was almost half-drained on account of dodging the monstrous blows that were previously aimed his way. Although, with his skills, he could probably beat her without any chakra…

"So what's your answer Namikaze-?"

"…No."

"What?" Kushina exclaimed. To his left, Minato saw his sensei exchange an equal look of surprise. It wasn't every day that the great Namikaze Minato turned down an offer to fight.

Realizing that he had gained Kushina's attention with pleasure, Minato smirked.

"I've already drained half my chakra and I'm tired from training. Even if I were to beat you, it wouldn't be fair, wouldn't it? I would not be participating fully in the fight so you would not have actually defeated me." He pointed out, Kushina's eyes widening at the simple fact she had ignored. At this, Minato's smirk grew wider.

"And also," he continued, his eyes narrowing devilishly, "You're a girl."

"_What?"_

"I said you are a-"

"What difference does that make?" Kushina yelled, her face reddening with anger. From the side, Jiraiya eyed this with an amused look. "I am still a ninja! An equal konoichi-"

"_Former_ Konoichi." Minato corrected.

"Of the _whirlpool country_. However-"

"It doesn't matter. You're still a girl aren't you? Even if you we're to become a legendary Sannin, you would still be a girl…A woman…" Minato trailed off with a confused look on his face.

"Chivalry huh?" Kushina asked suddenly, calm.

"…Something like that…"

A pause. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at this exchange. Clearly, Minato was not known to be such a gentleman.

"Hn," Kushina grunted thoughtfully tilting her head at Minato. "…If you were to hang the chivalry one day-with your chakra and strength fully restored…" Kushina paused to take a breath before continuing. "Would you consider fighting me?"

A chuckle was heard from Jiraiya.

…_She's persistent, that one…_

From above, a breeze settled into Minato's hair as he thought.

"Hn…Maybe…" He replied coolly, a small grin settling onto his cheeks.

A rough scoff and a challenging reply was heard.

"Good, 'cause you know I'm gonna kick your ass!" This sudden outburst brought Minato back to his usual silent demeanor.

"As if…"

"You're challenging me? You wanna go?"

"Hn…"

"I _thought so._"

"Whatever…let me continue training…"

A shrill giggle was heard in the distance. Minato could tell that Kushina liked the idea of a promised fight.

"Hmph, hai Namikaze-_sama_…"

_What…the hell…?_

---

_2 years later…_

Bruises and sweat were aglow against the boy's battered body, as he smirked from beneath his blonde bangs at his target.

With a deep sigh, he clenched his fists in preparation for the final leg of the exam.

The first two tasks were easy-although harder than his chuunin exams, with a difficult scroll retrieving exercise followed by, a predictable survival test.

Both tasks were passed easily by the prodigy leaving him still, scratched.

However, this was when the real game begun.

Fighting against a teammate, stranger or even a full-fledged jounin!

No matter what, he wouldn't give up.

"Namikaze Minato, huh?" A familiar voice drawled, as Minato crouched in a landing position.

Rising his head, Minato studied his opponent.

It was a female. Her eyes were mysteriously dark-criticizing him with a tight glance. Her hair was a dark red, which shined a deep orange under the lights of the bright room. Without any intention to hurt him, she strolled towards Minato's body-looking down at him.

"You're the one they've been talking about in this exam?" She asked, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. "The 'number one rookie chuunin' huh?"

Minato shrugged, maintaining his determined composure.

"It depends on who you are asking," He replied, his eyes narrowing competitively at the familiar face.

"Hn" The girl grunted-in deep thought. "I believe I am asking a weak opponent who has a poor sense of respect for others-claiming it to be…chivalry I believe."

Minato raised a mocking eyebrow.

"Chivalry, huh?"

"That's _my_ line."

The two glared at each other from a distance, the scene of their first meeting playing through each other's minds.

"If you hang the chivalry…" Kushina began.

"The chivalry has been hung." Minato replied in a monotone. At this, Kushina smirked. The crack of her knuckles rang throughout the arena as she prepared herself.

"You ready to get you're ass kicked in front of all these people?"

"Hn," Minato smirked arrogantly, before rising to a stance of his own. Stretching his limbs and adjusting his feet, he was finally ready.

_The great Namikaze Minato…_

"Come."

---

-.-U please...this was a challenge given to everyone at the lovely site of Naruto Manga Returns. (A great Manga hosting group) Anyway, hope your satisfied everyone. Sorry it took so long...i kinda forgot..(hehe...)

Read and Review. (For the R.O.N-Resurect. of Ninja story, I haven't abadoned it. Because this is a oneshot, im taking a short break from it. )

Thanx,

-SK


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